Soft the hammer

[Don Mannino]

Lianqii,

Hopefully the technicians who are more familiar with voicing the Hamburg piano will respond to you also. Those of us who live in North America do not see as many of the German Steinway pianos, and the voicing method is very different from the New York pianos.

My basic technique for this type of hammer (which is very similar to the Kawai EX hammer):

1. Shape the hammers carefully, finishing with very fine sandpaper (1,000 grit) to make a smooth, even surface.
2. Regulate the action carefully
3. Refine the hammer shape on top and adjust the string level (with the string hook) to make sure that the hammers match the strings exactly, so that all three strings are struck exactly together.
4. Needle the hammers on either side of the strike point, just a little bit away from the top of the hammer, only 1 or 2mm deep. This will give the most control over the tone color and softness.  Try not to needle directly on top of the hammer.  This will reduce the power of the tone too much.
5. Smooth the hammer surface after needling to remove any lumps created by the needles, and make sure the hammers are still striking all three strings together.

There is much more to be learned in needling the hammers, of course, but this is a very short guide to getting the tone softer in these hammers.

Good luck!

Don Mannino RPT
(Kawai America)